Racism?

Continuing with our discussion on discrimination, Bong’o'pondit brings to our attention a story from Princeton

Hi Princeton! Remember me?” the parody began. “I so good at math and science. Perfect 2400 SAT score. Ring bells? Just in cases, let me refresh your memories. I the super smart Asian. Princeton the super dumb college, not accept me.” Later, it said: “What is wrong with you no color people? Yellow people make the world go round. We cook greasy food, wash your clothes and let you copy our homework.[link]

This little parody in the Daily Princetonian has outraged a lot of people, nevermind the editor of the newspaper is an Indian-American and the parody was apparently written by an editorial board composed of ethnic Chinese. As the Pondit said, why can’t people take a little joke? If you feel offended, counter it with a joke of your own instead of crying racism everytime! Come on people, have a sense of humor for FSM’s sake!

But my problem with this story is of a different kind.

But some critics, like Mr. Li, the applicant who brought the complaint against Princeton, contend that many colleges, even those with substantial numbers of Asian-American students, deliberately hold down the number of Asian-Americans and that they should have a greater presence given their performance in high school and on standardized tests.Mr. Li, a freshman at Yale, had a perfect 2400 on the SATs, top grades at his high school in Livingston, N.J., numerous Advanced Placement courses, community service in Costa Rica, and high rankings in New Jersey’s math and physics leagues.

Despite such outstanding scores, Mr. Li was rejected by Princeton. He has complained that this smacks of racism and has filed a civil rights complaint.

But hold on a minute,

While Asian-Americans account for 5 percent of the population in the United States, they account for greater numbers at prestigious institutions like Harvard (18 percent), Stanford (24 percent), and the University of California at Berkeley (46 percent). At Princeton, they accounted for 13 percent of undergraduates last year, and make up 14 percent of the current freshman class

Mr. Li and other Asian-Americans are discriminated because Asians have a disproportionate share in top American schools, as the figures above show. Quite naturally, schools who are obsessed with diversity are demanding much higher scores from them then they say- African-Americans.

Frankly, I fail to see the problem. For years, Asian-Americans in general and Indians and Chinese in particular have benefited from the diversity principle. They were accepted despite lower scores and offered generous financial aid. They never complained that such attempts at diversity violates natural justice. Now the shoe is on the other foot and the same principle is being used against then, they are crying racism!

What rubbish!

Quite naturally, since the number of Asian-Americans has increased, the focus of the universities has shifted to other minorities, for example, Hispanics. And why not? Why shouldn’t a rich Indian-American kid be discriminated in favor of a Hispanic kid from an inner city area? Unless of course, the Asian-Americans acknowledge the futility of the trying to make social justice more important than natural justice, equality and fair play. Will they?

Of course not! The problem is two fold-First- Most of such people have faced severe discrimination in their home countries and are still unable to see beyond it. Second-they suffer from a deep sense of entitlement i.e just because they belong to a particular race, they deserve preference and it’s more perverse manifestation-if they are rejected, then it surely is because of racism. Asians, of course, are the paragons of virtue and rest of the world espcially Whites-racist bastards.

This sense of entitlement has severely affected the prospects of African-Americans. The feeling that they would always face discrimination has been so much instilled in their minds that they seem unable to see beyond it. I am not arguing they haven’t faced racism-who can deny slavery, but it has been used by Black leaders to keep themselves in business. I recall a conversation I had with an African-American in New Jersey. He worked in a large American Bank and came from a very poor, largely black neighborhood. He told me how his friends had virtually disowned him-since he wears a suit-they think he has gone over to the other side!

One would think-isn’t that the whole purpose of the Race debate? To make people from races who have faced discrimination cross over to the other side? But to achieve that, one has to give them right message-and I have my doubts if that message is being sent across. All they are being taught is to reject and seek solace in government largesse instead of preparing them to embrace and enventually take over those very institutions which might have discriminated against them. Failure in life has other causes apart from Race, no? A lesson the votaries of social justice in India would do well to remember.

I am not arguing that America is perfect, of course, discrimination and Racism are features of the American society. However, I will still argue that it remains amongst the fairest societies in the world where the only real impediment to one’s success is the limit of one’s ambition.

(Thanks to Bongo’o'pondit for the link and the discussion)